


Desert Flower

by ManicAntics



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe, Child Abandonment, Child Link (Legend of Zelda), Fantastic Racism, Fluff, Friendship, Gerudo Culture, Gerudo Desert - Freeform, Gerudo Town, Goddesses, Kidnapping, Kingdom of Hyrule, Politics, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Trans Female Character, Trans Link (Legend of Zelda), War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2020-09-27 10:03:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20405911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ManicAntics/pseuds/ManicAntics
Summary: War is on the horizon as tension rises between factions. The Gerudo, long ago banished to the desert in the south. The Rito, long ago established themselves in the crags of the west. The Gorons, long ago took to the heat of the north. The Zora, long ago found succor in the waters of the east.And in the center of it all was the Hylians, and their throne of generations.War is coming and a young vai and a young girl are caught in the middle.Link was raised among the scourges of the desert.Zelda among the nobles of Hylia.They say that you forge a closer bond with people in the fires of adversity. Maybe that's true, or maybe there's some other, stronger power building a bond out of the ashes of war.But while the adults engage in their squabbles and lives are on the line, there may be something much worse on the horizon.





	1. Rockabye

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story posted in a long time, since I had to scrub myself off the internet due to personal reasons. But with any luck, I'm here to stay! Maybe I'll even get around to posting some of my older work. This is my first time working with the Zelda lore, which is more of an on-fire-garbage-can than I am :)! I hope you enjoy!

Sand swirls through the air on a high wind, over the stone walls of the Gerudo capital, simply known as The Town. There are smaller settlements scattered across the Gerudo Desert, of course-- in such a harsh, unforgiving environment, large populations are too difficult to provide for, and too difficult to defend. But the Town is where the Chief lives, the Town is the center of Gerudo trade between settlements, and the Town is where children's laughter currently fills the air in a side alley.

The girls number only three, and are fairly young. They're each about ten, it seems, and giggling behind their veils like the school children they are.

“I heard a rumor that a  _ voe _ was caught trying to climb the city wall!” One of them, with skin dark and bronze, her long red hair loose around her face, and the almond-shaped blue-green eyes of the Gerudo, whispers. “I heard he was arrested!”

“Aren't they usually just tossed out?” The second girl was taller than the first, nearly six feet over her friend's five and a half. Her hair is the same color, but bouncy curls rather than straight.

“Yeah, that's why it's such a rumor!” The first explains in a tone that parents everywhere across the land would recognize as a child's 'you're being dumb’ voice.

Both girls turn to look at the third. They have to look  _ down  _ to do so, as she's less than four feet tall. Her skin is bronzed, but not the bronze of the Gerudo. Rather, it's the weathered bronze of pale skin under the desert sun. Her hair is  _ blonde _ , long but tucked up in her turquoise veil. Large, round, crystal blue eyes peer up at them, framed by fluffy blonde bangs.

“What do you think, Link? About the voe? They're saying he's a Hylian…”

Link, for such is the name of the small, Hylian girl in Gerudo clothing, is silent for a long moment, then she shrugs.

“Yeah, I suppose we don't have much information to  _ really _ have an opinion. Other than that a voe trying to sneak into the Town is a  _ moron _ .”

Link snorts at that.

“Really, any Hylian in the desert right now is a moron.” The second girl stops, blinking. “Well except for you, Link. But you're not really a Hylian, are you? You're one of us.” 

Link nods, vehemently. 

“I heard another rumor, actually. Nani was talking with Sijah, see, and after they were talking about the man that got caught, they said…” The straight-haired girl pauses, and looks around furtively. She leans in, and the other two lean closer as well. “They said  _ Link _ was a voe.” She whispers, looking between her friends.

“That's just silly, Nissa.” The curly-haired girl rolls her eyes. “You're making that up.”

Link, though, has frozen. It's an open secret amongst the adults of the town, but she had hoped to have a few more years before her friends began asking questions. Once her puberty hit, at least, and she would have to deal with all  _ kinds  _ of discomfort.

The other two have noticed her reaction, though.

“Link?” Nissa asks, looking worried. “It's not true, is it?”

Link is quiet, almost always. She spoke seldomly, and only when absolutely required. Even then, if she didn't like or trust you, you weren't likely to get a word out of her.

Her Mama called it selective mutism. 

But she knows, in this moment, that Nissa and Vana need an answer, or she could say goodbye to her friends and probably all respect from her peers.

“When I was found,” She says, slowly and carefully like she always is when speaking, “I was a voe. But I am _not_ a voe anymore. I am a _vai_, and a _Gerudo_, and Mama says that's what's important. I don't _want_ to be a voe.”

The other girls exchange a glance. “The adults all know, don't they?” Vana asks.

Link nods, waiting for the hammer to fall. 

“Well, I don't see a problem with it.” Nissa says, cheerily. “Link says she's a vai, she looks like a vai, she acts like a vai, and she's still the same Link the entire town adores. She's a vai, and a Gerudo, and I'm glad we have her.”

Beneath her veil, Link flushes, embarrassed. Vana gives her a noogie. “Come on, you pasty little vai, let's go get some lunch before lessons. I've got some rupees, we can go to the canteen.” 

Grinning, Link trots after her friends.

1234567890

“Mama, Mama, I'm home!” Link calls as she runs up the stairs of the palace.

The women on either side of the archway entrance chuckle as the young girl rushes past, into the throne room. 

Lady Urbosa, Chief of the Gerudo, sends the young girl a dazzling smile. “My little desert flower! How was your day?” The woman is Gerudo through and through, bronzed skin and red hair flowing down her back like the waves of desert sand. She’s wearing the headband her mother gifted her upon her rise to chief, but none of her other usual clothes. The reason why is clear-- she’s heavily pregnant, her stomach round under the sheer fabric of the maternity shirt she’s wearing to keep the sun off the baby. Her sirwal has been replaced with a skirt, airy enough to keep out the heat but providing more comfort.

“Good!” Link chirps. “No baby sister?” 

“Not today, I’m afraid, desert flower.” 

Link pouts, unseen behind her veil. “When?”

“Soon, my dear. Every day she comes closer.”

Link nods. 

“Do you have homework?”

Link shakes her head. “Birthday.”

“Oh, right!” Urbosa smirks. “I forgot your birthday was tomorrow.”

Link's big blue doe eyes fill with hurt. “Mama?”

Her mother laughs. “I'm teasing, flower. I knew. In fact, I've been preparing. You know how important tenth birthdays are.”

Link nods, excited. Traditionally, tenth birthdays were spent at home with one's mother, learning the history of the Gerudo and the secrets of the desert. It was the day a girl chose their path in life, be it research, production, or military. Their schooling would then be tailored to their choices, and later in life they would choose exactly  _ what  _ in that line of jobs they desired, further tailoring their education towards that. 

There was a lot that needed done in all three categories-- researchers, for example, could go into teaching or bookkeeping or chronicling or inventing or any number of other things. People in production did everything from sew to build to sell, and a lot of other minutiae that helped keep the settlements alive. 

And then, there was military. Guards, medical, soldiers, and all the like came from this branch of schooling, and it is there Link wants to go. She wants to protect her home and prove she's just as capable a  _ vai _ as all the other Gerudo girls her age.

“Tomorrow,” Her mother says gently, upon seeing the determined glint in her eyes. “Tomorrow I will tell you the story of the Gerudo. And we will discuss where you will take your life.” 

After a long moment, Link nods. She knows her mother does not want her to go into military, just as she knows her mother will not stop her if that is what she chooses. 

Link is her own vai, and her mother respects that. But she and Mama will probably have a long talk tomorrow, so she knows exactly what she's in for. Military is the hardest of the paths to take.

1234567890

One. Two. One. Two.

_ Every second step causes agony. She limps across the uneven, rocky ground, her leg screaming out in pain. The arrow protruding from the back of it is moving slightly with every step, only increasing her pain, but she knows better than to take it out. _

One. Two. One. Two. 

_ She's using a tree branch as a crutch, desperately hobbling through the rocky terrain. She knows the soldiers are chasing her. They have dogs, the open wound in her leg will draw them like a magnet. She's covered in dirt. There are monsters in this part of the wastelands. _

One. Two. One. Two.

_ The bundle strapped to her back squirms, but stays quiet. She hums quietly to it before singing softly. “ _ Ooh, love. No one's ever gonna hurt you, love. I'm gonna give you all of my love. Nobody matters like you. Your life ain't gonna be nothing like my life.”  _ She huffs as she hefts herself up a large boulder.  _ “You're gonna grow and have a  _ good _ life _ .” She can hear the baying of hounds in the distance _ . “I’m gonna do what I've got to do.” 

_ She can see, from this vantage point, the long trek she has ahead, and it’s mostly uphill. The desert may not seem like a safe place, especially for a Hylian like her, but she's heard the legends of the Gerudo. They don't hurt women. Not unless they're defending themselves. _

_ She has no intention of fighting them, only asking, no begging, for asylum. _

_ But there’s a long way to go before she can get to the desert. And it’s mostly uphill. _

_ There is a long way to get up th-- She’s thinking in circles. The blood loss must be getting to her. _

_ She grits her teeth and leans on her branch. The trek is rocky and hilly, and she has to climb at points. There are members of the royal army chasing her. She has an arrow stuck in her calf, slowly leaking blood. _

_ She could do this. She  _ had to _ do this. _

One. Two. One. Two.

_ Every second step causes agony. _


	2. Little Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here we go again! Welcome to chapter 2, have a nice read, see you tomorrow for chapter three!

Link stands in her room, staring into the mirror her mother’s mother’s mother had traded and bartered for from the Rito-- traditionally the only people who willingly traded with the ‘savage’ Gerudo women. It was Zora-crafted, an enormous, beautiful shell in blues and greens, with polished glass in a fan shape in the center. It's taller than she is, taller than _ Mama _ is. And Mama is so _ big _ . Link is always amazed at how small she looks in this mirror. Small, pale-skinned, and voeish. _ She doesn’t like it _ . Bad enough she sticks out so badly around other Gerudo, but she _ knows _, knows she shouldn’t be here. She doesn’t want to take off her veil, her top, her sirwal. She doesn’t wanna look at herself and see what’s wrong. 

But after lessons, she had gone sand seal surfing with Nissa and Vana, and she was all dirty. Mama told her to change before dinner.

She sucks in a breath and takes off her veil. Her face isn’t so bad, still rounded with baby fat and kind of feminine. Her top comes next. That also isn’t much of an issue-- at least not _ yet_. Once puberty hits for all the Gerudo around her, she'll be cursing her chest and voe in general.

She turns away from the mirror to take off her sirwal. She's become an expert at changing without looking down, without seeing even more proof that she doesn't belong. She _ knows _ what makes her a voe-- the amount of diapers she changed when Captain Pearla asked her to babysit her baby so she could go straight back to work made it clear, especially after she asked her Mama about the differences she'd seen.

She _ is _a vai, but she was a voe.

She tosses her favorite outfit in the bin. She likes the turquoise-- Mama says it brings out her eyes. She has a large selection of colors, though-- she spent a lot of time doing odd jobs in all the settlements, helping other Gerudo with chores and being rewarded with rupees to spend in the markets. She's even got a couple of _ dresses_, real ones, built for Hylians. They're too hot for during the day, but they're actually _ better _ to wear at night than her normal clothes.

She picks out her new outfit in pink and puts it on, sirwal first so she can cover herself as quickly as possible, then top. She puts the veil on, too, even though Mama will ask her to take it off to eat. She always does.

Link skips from her room, sliding down a banister for one of the aqueducts, giggling the whole way. She jumps off at the last minute and lands on the stairs, rushing down to see her mother.

There is a Rito woman at dinner. She and Mama talk about politics, about the state of the land and the rising tensions with Hylia. They speak of war like it's imminent, like it's just a matter of time.

There are already attacks, Mama says, minor skirmishes on the border of the desert, spies trying to sneak into settlements. Like the voe that was caught this morning, the one Link discussed with their friends.

He was arrested because he was a spy for Hylia.

Any Hylian in the desert is now considered a danger. Capture first, ask questions later. Mama comments that she's glad that Link spends so much time in the other settlements, and glad she had the foresight to ensure every soldier has met her daughter personally. She'll be recognized on sight by most everyone.

Link is safe here in the desert. It's her home. And she doesn't like that the Hylians are trying to pick a fight with her people.

The Rito woman is the Rito ambassador for the Gerudo settlements, since men are not allowed in any of them. The usual ambassador is her husband, but Revali can't enter the city, so Tya comes in his stead. She's always been polite to Link. Her feathers are red, and pink, and she wears nothing but a nightshade blue slip and a lovely scarf in all colors of the sky. 

Link thinks she's beautiful and exotic. 

"And of course I brought gifts for your little ones." She shoots a beaked smile Link's way and looks pointedly at Mama's bulging belly. She produces a beautiful mobile made with sparkling gems-- "A real beauty from the finest craftsmen of the Gorons."-- and a gauzy, beautiful white and silver dress for Link.

She gushes over it, sparkling with sequins and different color beads. It looks almost ethereal, fragile and meshy-- and yet it's thick and padded to protect against the cold of night's chill.  
  
Link adores it. She loves the meshy material, the shimmering sheen of the soft fabric, the sparkling shine of the sequins. She wants to wear it _ right now_, wants to run upstairs this instant and try it on. Instead, she sends the woman a grateful smile. “ _ Sarqso _.” She says, speaking for the first and only time that night.

The older vai simply smiles warmly, not expecting anything different.

Link is sent away from the table once she’s done, as always. She puts on her veil before she allows herself to pout. She knows the ‘Serious Talk’ will only happen when she’s gone.  
  
That’s fine, though. She’ll just have to listen in the hard way.   
  


1234567890

_ She had made it up the side of the cliff, only to find a monster base belonging to bokoblins. They were all asleep-- it was night after all-- and so she sneaks, as well as she could, hoping to pass them. _

_ The bundle on her back begins to fuss. _

_ She almost rolls her eyes as they all startle at once and lumber towards her. She hefts her tree branch and lunges for the nearest red monster. She keeps her weight on her good leg and smashes at the thing until her branch breaks and it keels over, dead, before dissolving. She grabs its club and takes on the other two at once, unhindered by the bundle but having to compensate for her leg. _

_ She still easily beats them back until they, too, die. _

_ She scoops up the horns they've left behind and snatches a cricket as it hops out of the grass, taking only a second to assure herself it's the right kind. There's a cooking pot at this particular outpost, and she needs something to keep her going. Another cricket catches her eye, and with barely any trouble, she grabs it. She tosses three horns in the pot along with the two crickets and watches it simmer for a moment. _

_ “Oh, my baby, I’m going to get you out of here. _ ” _ She whispers, staring into the pot for a moment. Then she turns her attention to her wound. _

_ Gritting her teeth, she grabs the arrow. She does _ not _ try and remove it. Doing so would be utterly moronic. Instead she snaps it, as close to her leg as she can manage. Then she pulls out a roll of bandages and some vodka from her pack. She grabs a chunk of the broken tree branch and shoves it between her teeth, then begins pouring the alcohol onto her wound. _

_ She's _ very _ glad she thought to gag herself, or her screams would be ringing through the forest and lead her pursuers directly to her. The baby whines upon hearing her muted yell. _

_ She winds the cloth bandages around her leg, careful not to tie it so tight it won't impede her movement, then looks around the little camp. There's a bow, and a handful of arrows, which she happily snags, and another club-- she tosses away her old one. Even a monster shield. Not high quality, but better than nothing. There are also four explosive barrels. _

_With her wound at least partially treated, and a bit of rest, she feels much better._ _Swallowing down the hot Energizing Elixir she had created clears up her remaining fatigue. She can hear the baying of the hounds at the bottom of the cliff she had scaled, though. They'll be upon her soon. _

_ Protocol demands they go _ around _ the cliff. They'll already be heading her way. _

_ Her eyes flick to the pot, then the explosives. _

_ A grin that's nothing less than feral splits her face. _


	3. Determination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have the Mii Channel theme running in my brain 24/7. I write to distract myself from it. Enjoy!

Link heads upstairs past Sevais, who nods at her in greeting. 

Once in her room, she climbs up onto the windowsill and through the hole hewn from the stone that allows her to see the outside world. She climbs down the side of the palace, landing feet-first in one of the aqueducts, and hops over the edge, clinging to the top of the wall with her fingertips. Then she kicks off the wall, leaping the short distance between that wall and the palace wall. Nimbly, she twists herself around just enough to snag purchase on the palace, her feet hanging over ten feet above the ground. If she falls from this distance she’ll not only definitely hurt herself, she’ll also be caught. Right now she’s mostly hidden, and high enough up that most people wouldn’t think to look. If she’s caught trying to eavesdrop, she’s going to be in a whole mess of trouble, so falling is a big no-no.

Thankfully, she’s good at this. Her small, lithe form is an advantage when climbing-- she’s lightweight but strong. It takes a few minutes and some dexterous jumps, but soon she’s above the proper window in back of the palace. There’s a little ledge carved there-- it’s purely decorative, painted a sun-bleached blue, but it’s made of the same stone as the rest of the wall, and thus easily holds her weight. She stands there, pressed against the wall, and listens.

“So it really is that bad?” Mama says.   
  
“I didn’t want to say too much in front of Link.” Tya says. “Revali’s last visit to Hyrule Castle ended in weapons drawn. The Gorons are sticking their heads in the lava and ignoring everyone-- it really ruffled Revali’s feathers that their chief wouldn’t even speak to him. And the Zora are historically closely aligned with Hylia, but Revali reported the entire city was in high tension and arguments were breaking out in the streets. Lady Mipha was very welcoming, but her father ...” There’s silence for a moment. “I am certain that the Zora are divided in loyalties and it’s causing infighting.”   
  
“And the Rito?” Mama asks. Link can imagine her expression, all stern and with her eyebrow cocked.

There’s a bit of disgust in Tya’s voice. “The Elder is, as always, waiting to see which way the wind blows. Revali  _ may  _ have possibly pulled some tail feathers when he announced that. He called the old man a coward and told him that when Hylia comes after them, he won’t have a chance to ride the updrafts anymore. It’ll be too late.”

“So Hylia truly does intend to try and take the Hebra Mountains?”

“No.” Tya disagrees, much to Link’s surprise. “Not yet. They’d be foolish to try from the position they’re in. Too much rough, hard to defend territory. Not to mention the logistics of fighting a battle in a freezing place like Hebra without a nearby safe base against a species built for that weather…. No, Urbosa, they intend to start with here. If they take the wastelands, they take the highlands.”

Mama gasps. “And if they set up a base in the highlands, they have an excellent vantage point-- practically a straight line to Lake Totori!”    


  
“If they manage to successfully occupy the desert, Hebra will be next. They already have Hateno and Akkala thanks to their firm, unbreakable alliance with the Sheikah. They occupy Faron and the Plateau already.”

“If they take my desert, it’s an open door to Hebra. Are the Rito prepared for an invasion?”   
  


“Are the Gerudo?” Tya asks back a bit sullenly.    
  


“Soldiers we can handle. We could probably muster up a good defense if they didn’t send their entire armada at them. Fighting them back? There aren’t enough of us, let alone enough warriors. And that’s before you count the  _ Guardians. _ ” Mama says with distaste.

Guardians? What's a Guardian? Link frowns. The way Mama's talking about it, it sounds bad. And all this talk about the Hylians trying to take over...

Things are looking bad. Link licks her lips, staring at the desert sand beyond the Town. Things are bad, and she almost feels guilty about it. These are the people she was born from. Power-hungry and evil, all of them.

... Will she grow up to be like them?

Suddenly, Link really doesn't want to hear more.

It's considerably easier to climb back up to her window than it was to climb down. She swings into her bedroom by the decorative ledge and goes to sit on her bed.

The beautiful dress is almost taunting now, shimmering in the light of dusk. Link doesn't even hang it up. She just curls up on her bed like a sand cat and silently stares at her mirror.

1234567890

_ The soldiers make it up to the top of the sheer cliff with their hounds and see the remains of what the woman had left behind-- the pot stained with the green liquid she had sucked down so desperately, the empty bottle of vodka, the bloodstains, the remains of weapons and tree branches. But the woman herself is nowhere to be seen, and that's by design. _

_ They haven't even looked in the tree. Idiots. She trained them better than that. If she weren't currently on the run from her own soldiers, she would have them running laps until their knees gave out. _

_ They allow the hounds to investigate where she sat, clearly trying to gain a better scent. _

_ "She can't have gone far with an injury like that. We'll catch up to her." The commander, a man she had trained since he was a mere slip of a boy, grinds out. She almost wants to scoff. He's underestimating her. She hates that, loathes it, really. She's been their captain for decades and not only did they throw that fact aside the moment the King said to jump, they also seemed to have lost all sense of respect and sense in general. _

_ If they had common sense, they would have looked in the tree. if they had a sense of danger, they would have noticed her trap already. If they had any real knowledge of her, they would know that she'd do anything to protect her baby, and nothing, not a leg injury, not monsters, not being chased halfway across Hyrule, and not a bunch of traitorous boors she's ashamed to even know right now, will stop her. _

_ Idiots. _

_ She adjusts her stance in the tree ever so slightly as the dogs begin to bark, having realized their mark is right there above their heads. The commander actually has the gall to look confused. Nobody has looked up yet! A bunch of disgraces, that's what they are! _

_ The four explosive barrels have been moved to make a square around the cooking pot. She's already lit her arrow on fire with the flames under said pot. _

_ They're all inside the square now. She pulls back the string on the monster's bow, takes aim, and fires. _

_ The boom is cacophonous. The baby begins to bawl. The men scream. At least one falls off the cliff. She winces at that. _

_ "Annabelle!" The commander shouts over the roar of the flames. She blindly fires an arrow in the direction of his voice. _

_ She then slides down the side of the tree and books it. Her leg nearly gives out from under her, and she can feel warm blood running down it, but she keeps going, running across the sheer mountainside with a second wind. Maybe they survived that. Maybe they didn't. But they're all definitely wounded after that explosion, and that might just buy her the time she needs. _


	4. Earthquake

"Good morning, Flower!" Mama says, bustling into Link's room while she's trying to decide between tops. "I think you should wear the purple one." Mama opines, and Link hangs the green one up in her wardrobe. She picks the green sirwal, though.

"Happy birthday, Flower." Mama says, waddling over. Link thinks it's funny to watch her walk now that her belly's so big. Like watching a baby sand seal flop across the sand for the first time. She's so big.

It's not fair that Link's baby sister is taking so long. She should be here by now.

Her expression must show her displeasure, because Mama laughs and ruffles her hair. "Savannah will come when Din believes she's ready to face the world, and no sooner, my girl. Now come with me, and we'll get some breakfast before we face the day ahead."

Link pulls on her pink veil, making Mama laugh again at her mismatched outfit, before heading out of the room on Mama's heels. They go to the canteen instead of the dining room, and Link smiles and waves at all the people in the restaurant. There are many well-wishes and Link gets brought her favorite food without Mama even having to ask. It's the Shocking Surprise, a meal made with Volt Fruits and Hydromelons grilled up and mixed with some kind of sauce that makes it all melt in your mouth, and it's served over toast. It's great!

She gobbles it down, listening with one ear as always while Mama talks to the other adults, addressing some minor concerns about the latest crops and trades and a molduga sighting near the southern oasis settlement.

Moldugas are bad news. They're big, and mean, and they eat everything. They swim under the sand and can sense the slightest vibration in the ground. And when they do, they dive out of the sand and straight up into the air, throwing whatever moved as far up as thirty feet. Then while the pray is either dead or recovering from the fall, it dives back down and eats them. They're a nightmare to fight, and near settlements they're a huge danger. They destroy towns and can kill off entire populations before being brought down.

Mama promises to send a squad to take care of it, and Link finishes her breakfast quickly so they can get that taken care of quickly. She gets Mama's attention and moves her hands about, patomining going to tell the guards herself. Mama is clearly grateful for the offer.

"Meet me at the goddess statue when you're done. We have a lot to discuss and only a day with which to do it."

Link nods, hops down from her seat, and rushes out of the canteen. Through the streets and a couple houses, until she's back at the palace at the center of the market. She goes through the main hall and down another until she goes back outside in the guard barracks. Link grabs one by the sleeve and deftly ducks out of the way of the instinctively thrown spear.

"Oh. Hello, Link." Captain Pearla says casually, as though she hadn't almost impaled Link. Link snorts, then begins gesturing. A flat, horizontal hand to represent the desert, then her other hand in a scoop on top to represent the molduga as a giant lump in the sand. To be sure she gets the message across, she throws the scoop hand up in the air and then back to the 'desert'.

"A molduga?" The Captain checks. Link nods.

"Where?"

Link points down, then mimes sipping a drink.

"Southern oasis. Got it. Tell Lady Urbosa we'll take care of it."

Link smiles and nods, because she knows that if her baby sister wasn't so close to coming, Mama would go with them to hunt. Mama was like that. A warrior. A good Gerudo Chief. But Savannah is coming any day, so Mama can't go out and do warrior things.

She heads back through the streets and homes until she reaches her Mama and the goddess statue.

Mama is sitting under an awning next to the statue, and Link joins her. The sun is low in the sky, slowly climbing its way to the peak of noon. Link can see sand on the wind. She licks her lips and leans against Mama.

"The story of the Gerudo is not a pretty one." She says. "There's a reason we wait until girls are ten to tell it. By now, you should be old enough-- and mature enough-- to understand the gravity of the tale. Still, it's tradition to ask." She pauses, and looks to Link gravely. "Are you certain you're ready to hear this?"

Link nods, pulling one knee to her chest and wrapping an arm around it, then glances at the goddess statue.

It might be her imagination, but it feels like the stone eyes are watching her.

1234567890

_ If she had entertained the thought that traversing the woodlands and mountains with her leg injury was hard, she now knows that traversing sand is a hundred times worse. Not to mention that she's feeling lightheaded and woozy from the heat. Or perhaps it's the blood loss. Not to mention the sand. She doesn't like sand. It's rough, and coarse, and it gets everywhere. _

_ It's slow going. The baby is crying. The sun beats down on her, and the arrowhead digs into her leg and nearly unbalances her several times as her shoes sink into the sand. She eventually unbundles the baby and gives him her breast to stem his tears, though that only leaves her hotter and thirstier. She left Castle Town completely unprepared because she was fleeing for her baby's life, so she doesn't even have a canteen on hand. She's not all that familiar with traversing the desert, either. _

_ Still, she pushes herself onward. It doesn't matter how utterly miserable she is. It's more important that she gets where she's going, and if she stops now she won't get back up. She's pretty much running off pure willpower as it is. _

_ The sand is scorching her feet through the soles of her shoes, and she's feeling the heat. But it doesn't matter, not really. She can see things out of the corners of her eyes. Mirages. Just keep going. Ignore the falsities in the world around her. _

_ The Gerudo are spread out in several settlements and patrol the desert regularly. She knows this from countless briefs, from spies and foolish tourists. She just needs to find one. One woman to help her. _

_ And she needs help so, so badly. She's dying. She thinks she's actually going to die, right here in the sand among the cacti and scorching wind. _

_ There's a horrible screech and a camouflaged Lizalfos bursts from the sand before her. She stumbles back with a cry of shock. She doesn't have a weapon. She cannot run. _

_ She whips the bokoblin's bow off her back and fires the two remaining arrows directly into the monster's face. This doesn't kill the monster, but it does have the effect of making it stumble in much the same way she did, away from her. _

_ Then she lashes out and hits it over the head with the bow, snapping it. The monster, though, drops the deadly sharp tri-boomerang it was carrying and she ducks and snags it before the lizard creature has time to grab it again. She pushes herself forward using her good foot and strikes as swiftly as she can, dispatching the monster in short order and actually leaving herself with a useful weapon. _

_ Okay, so now she's armed at least. That's good. _

_ She swoons. Is it the heat or the blood loss? She doesn't know. _

_ She checks the bundle on her back, making sure her precious cargo is safely out of the sun, and forces herself to trek on. _

_ The blood left behind on the sand turns it an odd, purplish color. Her feet sink into the desert. Just keep moving. Just keep going. _

_ It feels like days pass, though the sun only moves enough to indicate it's been a few hours. Time seems to be sludge swirling around in her brain. She feels like she's not even controlling her body anymore, it's simply moving on it's own while she watches detachedly. _

_ The baby cries, but she can't stop it. All her energy is on moving. In the distance, she can see a structure. Is it real? She doesn't know. How far is it? Deceptively, probably. It looks close but it's so far. _

_ She can't think straight. Her mind has one goal, and that's to keep moving. Maybe that's why she doesn't notice the rumbling beneath her feet. Maybe she's just too dizzy to see the bulge in the sand, or maybe it's just another mirage. _

_ A mirage that bursts beneath her feet and sends her rocketing into the air. She screams, all at once feeling a surge of adrenaline and fear that washes away the dizzy detachedness for one crucial moment. And she falls. _

_ And as she falls, the sun at her back and her mind whirling with a panicked clarity, she desperately flails until she, miracle of miracles, is falling facedown. _

_ She cushions the baby's fall with her own body. She hits the sand with so many cracks it sounds like a thousand bomb arrows being let loose at once. _

_ There are yells and scrapes and roars and pain, so, so much pain, but she ignores it all. She screams when she moves and her limbs try not to cooperate but after a long, heart stopping moment of helpless flailing she's able to get the bundle off her back. _

_ The baby stares at her when she opens the cloth and gives her a gummy smile and a giggle. _

_ By the goddesses, the baby is completely, completely unharmed. It's a miracle. She's lying here broken and bleeding but her baby, oh her baby. Big, smiling blue eyes full of curiosity and innocence stare at her and she laughs the laugh of a madwoman because her baby is alive, alive! _

_ The creature which threw her into the air gives another, final, roar and there are loud, female shouts but she can't focus on anything other than the glorious fact that her child survived the fall. The pain from her broken bones does not register. Her entire being is focused on the tiny person before her. _

_ A woman approaches her, tall, bronzed, with a magnificent mane of long, primary red hair done up in a circlet, and traditional Gerudo clothes. _

_ "Well, well. What do we have here?" The woman says in a smooth, warm voice. It's not callous, or cruel, or even condescending. Despite the words, her lovely voice manages to make a sentence that would otherwise be rude into a calming reassurance. "You're a long way from home, miss." _

_ She sucks in a breath. This is her chance, but she cannot speak. The words just get caught in her throat. _

_ With a pained yell, she offers the bundle, desperately. Her arms shake. Surely she has broken bones. _

_ Delicately, the giant of a woman bends down and takes her baby, realizing quickly what it is in the blanket and cradling it with utmost care. "I recognize you, now. My vai have described you many times. Annabelle, correct? The captain of Hylia's royal guard." That reassuring tone is now walking a tightrope between calming and accusatory. _

_ "Former." Annabelle coughs. Sticky wetness dribbles down her lips. _

_ "Oh?" The woman tilts her head as Annabelle collapses back to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. She still stares up at the woman with her baby. _

_ The former soldier meets the Gerudo's acid green gaze with her own brown one. "He--" She coughs again, "He wanted my baby." _

_ The Gerudo woman kneels. "Who did?" _

_ "The-- the King." Annabelle spits. Blood spatters over the sand. "He wanted to make my baby into a weapon." _

_ "Why would he do that?" She asks, rocking the child. _

_ "The mark, the mark." Annabelle mumbles dizzily. The world is spinning. "On the hand, when my Link was born. The mark of Courage..." _

_ The larger woman is silent for a long moment. "I see." _

_ "I'm dying, I'm dying..." Annabelle whispers. "My baby, my baby... You must, I beg of you. My Link, please... I came so far, I ran and ran and I need you to help me. My baby, please..." _

_ The bronze woman gently pushes Annabelle's hair from her eyes. "Your baby will be safe. You may rest assured of that, and go to your warrior's grave in peace, Annabelle. I promise you, your trek here will not be in vain. I will care for your child, as if Link was my own." _

_ Annabelle lets out a breathless laugh that feels like a sob. "Thank you, thank you... My baby... Your name, miss, I must have it... I must know who has saved me..." _

_ "I am Lady Urbosa, Chief of the Gerudo." _

_ Annabelle lets out another wheeze, blood dripping down the corner of her lips. "And I am Annabelle, Former Captain of the Royal Guard. Thank you, thank you..." Her vision is going. First it gets hazy, and then the corners of her gaze into the sands darkens. _

_ "You are an adorable little baby." She hears distantly and the rest of her gaze goes dark. _


	5. Broken Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note, this chapter discusses dark themes including rape, murder, and attempted genocide. None is onscreen, and all actions happened a good thousand years in the past of this story. Also... teeth in places that teeth are probably terrifying to be in.

"Many, many, many years ago, the Gerudo were not so different from the Hylians." Urbosa hums, looking down at Link with a fond smile. "We were not the same, but we were similar enough. We met voe, we spent our lives with them, we bore our children in the usual way. Voe were rarely born to our people, and they were celebrated when they were. We lived in peace. It was a time of greatness, a golden age of prosperity."

She closes her eyes and leans back. "But slowly, things began to change. We were women, the Hylians said, whispering in the streets. We were emotion-driven, lovesick fools who needed to be saved from ourselves. We were different, and we passed those differences onto our children. And we needed the firm hand of a voe to guide us through our lives, as if women were errant children. As if we were some kind of helpless breed of cattle."

She hears Link make a disgusted noise. Vai almost always do.

But this is far from the worst of the tale. Urbosa frowns. "Laws began to be passed. We fought them tooth and nail as they tried to take our freedom. They began to resent us because we would not, could not submit. We chafed at our bonds. Our people began to resent the Hylians, and the feeling was mutual. We formed our own settlements, we cared for our children and we ignored the rules the Hylians had put in place. We left in droves."

"So that's when we came to the desert?" Link asks, wide-eyed and staring up at her mother.

"No, Flower... That was when the battles started. The Hylians did not like that we chose to leave rather than conform. They tried to take us by force. They called us treasonous. We called them racists, we called them sexists."

Link frowns.

"They had an organized army. We had nothing but civilians. Still, we picked up our kitchen tools, we took up thievery to gain bows and swords and arrows, and we fought back with everything we had. They did not expect resistance. We were vai, we were not supposed to fight back."

Her daughter's hands are shaking in her lap. She looks very upset, her pupils are pinpricks and her veil's fluttering with her breath.

.... Maybe Link isn't as ready for this as she thinks she is. Still, Urbosa's gotten this far in the story. "Those of us they captured, they violated in the worst possible way and then slaughtered like animals. They raped and murdered us, and then.... Then our voe, few as they were, began aiding the other side. Not a single Gerudo voe was innocent. They were spies, they were traitors, they fought in the Hylian armies and they participated in our violation and murders. The Gerudo vai were horrified, of course, seeing their own on the front lines. But the voe who had stayed... they were the worst. After passing as much information as they could, one voe suggested we round up all those too young to fight and hide them in one place so they were easier to defend. The vai leading the makeshift troops, desperate to protect the next generation, agreed."

She glances at her daughter to find her white-faced and frightened. She may have an inkling of where this is going.

"A battalion attacked, led by our own voe. They slaughtered every guard and held our children hostage. The King of the time ordered us to leave Hyrule entirely, told us to go to the lawless, barren wastelands."

"We agreed, of course. We had no choice. They were holding our youngest. What else could we do? We took what we could, and fled." Urbosa takes a deep breath. This is by far the worst part of the story to her. "They killed them. All of them, innocent children, male or female. Once we'd done what they wanted, they killed them all rather than returning them. And they dared to call us savages!" Urbosa spits.

Link makes a displeased noise. Her mother agrees. "And then they killed the men who had turned against us. Their intentions were clear-- without a next generation, and having forced us to the harshness of the desert, they would simply... starve us out. We would all die to the elements, or of age, with no children to take our places. The Gerudo would be extinct within fifty years."

Her daughter is trembling head to toe. Still as white as a sheet.

"We knew this, but were powerless to stop it. We were a small band of survivors, all female, trapped in an unforgiving desert with soldiers waiting to kill us if we stepped foot out of the wastelands." She looks up at the awning top. "The Gerudo had always worshipped Din above the other goddesses, but when they dropped to their knees in the sand and plead to the sky, all united, they asked of them all. They begged for a way to keep their people alive, a way to heal the damage done to their psyches. And the goddesses provided. In the center of the desert, water flowed from a pillar that rose forth from the desert sands. And our people, forever scarred by the actions of voe, were given the gift of immunity from their violations."

"The teeth." Link nods sagely.

Urbosa smirks. "Yes, the teeth. The teeth, the way any man who forces himself on one of our people pay. Of course, this gift made the usual methods of conception impossible, so we were granted one last boon, one final gift. So long as we prayed to our goddesses, so long as we followed the proper paths, so long as we gave a sufficient offering to Din upon the time we were ready, we would bear children, all female, without the influence of a voe."

"So they don't make babies like Hylians do? So I'd have to.... In order to make babies..." Link shudders and says no more. Urbosa simply nods.

"Over time, we built settlements. As generations passed, our skin grew darker to protect us from the heat. We grew taller, larger, stronger to fight the monsters in the desert. We not only survived, we thrived. And we passed down this story through generations so it would never be forgotten."

Link nods, visibly distressed by the tale. Urbosa pulls her into a hug. "Link, you are not like them. You are a flower that bloomed in the desert, a kind soul that's filled with courage. And not all Hylians are horrible monsters. They're just people, good and bad and in between."

Her daughter just doesn't look reassured. Urbosa frowns.

The young vai makes a gesture, holding up three fingers then makes a path with her other are for her index and middle finger to 'walk' down.

"Ah yes, your schooling. I did not forget." She sighs. "Which path do you want to walk?" Urbosa already knows.

"Military."

She doesn't want her Flower exposed to the horrors of war, and war is certainly coming. She does reassure herself that it will be years before she was officially on the guard.

"Are you certain, Flower? It will be a long and difficult road."

Link nods firmly.

Urbosa remembers Annabelle, and thinks of herself, and realizes that of course this is the path she'll take. It's in her blood, in her very soul.

The mark of Courage... The words haunt her, speaking of a deeper destiny, though she doesn't truly know what.

Urbosa sighs again. You understand the dangers of joining the ranks of the guard?"

Link nods again, expression grave.

"I will not stop you, Flower. I will help you grow into the vai I know you can be. The flower that blooms in adversity is the most beautiful of all."

Link blushes so hot it's visible above her veil. "Thanks, Mama." She whispers.

"Of course." Urbosa looks up at the sky. "It's almost noon. What would you like to do for the rest of your birthday?"

Link screws up her face in concentration, then points in the general direction to the market.

"Shopping?"

Link nods eagerly.

Urbosa laughs. "Alright, Flower. Let's see what's in the market today."


	6. Gilded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> took the long weekend off, my fiance was in and out of the er, sorry about the lack of updates.

Later that night, well after Link should have been in bed asleep, a small figure in a white dress climbs down from the window of her bedroom and then behind the palace, in much the same way she did the day before. She climbs up this time, however. Up and up and up. She stops on the roof to take a rest and looks up at the large, uneven stone pillar where all the water in the city comes from. The Goddess spring. Then, she grits her teeth , hops onto the pillar, and begins climbing. Up and up, her hands finding little divots and handholds in the stone with practiced ease, and her feet kicking off those same divots. All the way up until she's sitting on top of the giant stone pillar overlooking the town.

She lays there panting for a few moments. It's always so hard to get up here. If Mama found out she had climbed all the way up here, she'd have a fit. Too high. Unsafe.

Link would admit it's hard to get up here. Very winding. But the more she climbs it, the better she gets at climbing it. And she's been climbing it fairly often.

It's calm up here. Quiet. There's a blanket of stars above her, shining on the sand below. The moon shimmers with a beautiful grace, and she can almost see a smiling face upon it. Link sits back and looks up at the sky.

The goddesses blessed the Gerudo when they begged for aid.

Aid from wounds caused by her birth race. Her fists clench. It isn't fair.

Din. Farore. Nayru.

Link has always prayed to them all. The golden goddesses that created the world. But she doesn't pray anywhere but up here. It feels safer. She feels closer to the goddesses, and to the stars, and less out of place than she does praying at the goddess statue.

Link kneels down and drops her head, staring at the back of her head and praying. Praying for the same things. That she follows the right path. That she make her mother proud. That the Gerudo have a safe year, despite the war on the horizon. Good crops.

That someday, she'll feel like a real vai, and a real Gerudo.

She feels unheard, as always.

1234567890

A Princess should always be calm, composed, and dignified.

But it's hard to do so when everything feels like a cycle of the most boring, frustrating duties and lessons and by the goddesses, she hates hearing about her Father's plans to conquer all of Hyrule in one fell swoop. Whoosh and stuff. These people have their _ own _ rulers, they don't need her Father! But he just won't listen. And she hates seeing soldiers hurting and dying and knowing that there are just as many on the other side of the battlefield who won't go home to their families.

It's sickening. It's tiring. And she can't _ do _ anything about it. She hates it. But she's just a little girl. Naive, they call her her. Just a little girl, blind to the way the world really works. No one listens to her. It's not fair, it's far from fair. They talk like she's some mindless sponge that hasn't absorbed enough life experience to know that war is good.

It's ** _not_ ** good.

Zelda huffs, then aims the bow, pulls back the string, and fires. The arrow hits the target with a 'thunk', directly in the center.

If Mother were here, she would listen. She wouldn't call her naive or a foolish little girl. She'd agree that war and hurting people, even if they're different people, is bad.

But Mother isn't here anymore. Zelda's breath hitches, and she fires another arrow before tears can blur her vision.

She still misses.

Every time she thinks of her mother, it feels like a punch in the gut.

A Princess should always be calm, composed, and dignified.

But, as with everything she's supposed to do and be, she fails at that too.

1234567890

_ The baby-- Link-- is showing signs of heatstroke, but the Gerudo know well how to handle that, even in little ones. Especially in little ones. _

_ What the doctors don't know how to handle is the simple fact that the Hylian baby is a voe. _

_ This has not happened before. They've never had to answer the question 'is a voe allowed in a city if it's a small child?' _

_ The Chief simply instructs that they care for the small voe while she figures out what to do. She already knows, however, and says as much when Pearla asks what she's planning. _

_ "I promised Link's mother that I would take care of her baby." _

_ "But no voe are allowed in the city walls." Pearla protests. "Or the walls of any settlements, for that matter." _

_ "Link is in the city walls. Therefore, Link is not a voe." Urbosa says simply. "Until Link is old enough to understand the gravity of the situation we find ourselves in, she will be safe within our city walls and raised among her sisters and aunts. And by that point, she should be well integrated and it should be safe to allow her to change that, if she so wishes." _

_ Pearla nods, understanding lighting her eyes. She always was a smart cookie. _

_ Urbosa can only hope it’s the right thing to do. _

1234567890

Zora's Domain is truly, deeply beautiful. It's a blessing to live here. Mipha just wishes it wasn't in such turmoil.

Fights break out in the streets. Arguments in the palace. Frustration and fear and anger.

So much anger.

Mipha sighs and seats herself primply upon her bed, absently rocking the little cradle made of shimmering green shells next to it with one foot. This is not a world she wants Sidon to grow up in. Her people in strife, her little world shattered...

She does not trust the Hylians. They have plunged her people into war time and time again, slowly wearing away at the goodwill of her father and chipping a once firm alliance to dust.

And yet still, her father wishes to aid their allies.

Mipha loves to help people. But she is not a fool. Once their enemies are subjugated, they will turn on the Zora in a heartbeat.

She has seen the same greed-filled gleam in the eyes of others, but none who wield such power as the kings of Hyrule, each learning from their father's knee and becoming further and further from the man her father once befriended.

And perhaps... Perhaps that is the folly of the Zora, to align themselves with such short-lived, temperamental peoples. Peoples with ideals that twist and warp like storms, morals that change at a moment's notice, lifespans that pass in the blink of an eye.

Her father wants her to honor the alliance. Her people are divided. But, truly... Her mind is made up by the cradle and its contents.

She will not allow her baby brother to be put into danger simply because of some old words from a man long, long dead.


	7. Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note to self, never promise a chapter before you have it written or life will kick you in the teeth. 
> 
> Also bird metaphors hard

The day after her birthday, after lessons, Link picks up a sword and shield from the armory and wanders out into the desert, alone. She trudges through the sand for a while, mostly just... thinking. Thinking about things that are better unthought. Sometimes she has to stop to take on a monster, and she always gathers up the parts and puts them into her bag. Every little bit of every little thing counts when you live in the desert.

Link had told her mother she would be going exploring in the desert, and Mama's only command was to make sure she was safely in one of the settlements by night time. She trusted Link to be safe and smart.

It made her feel good and grown up.

Link hums to herself, stopping to take her dinner in the shade of some ruins. Who was here before her, she wonders. Why would they make their home here, in the sands?

It's so curious. She wants to know more. She wants to know everything.

As she eats, she becomes aware of footsteps in the sand and looks up, wary.

A woman is trudging past. Link stares. It's a Hylian.

She doesn't seem to have noticed Link yet.

The girl puts her hand on her sword, watching with wary eyes.

A Hylian in the desert is bad news. Especially one walking so casually. Unconcerned about the sun and the heat and the sand.

The girl stands, hiding behind a pillar and watching suspiciously. After observing for a moment her eyes widen, seeing the crescent-shaped blade concealed under the woman's backpack.

A Yiga Clan member.

Link draws her blade and grabs her shield off her back, though she attempts to stay hidden. No confrontation would be better than a confrontation where she wins.

If she can even win. She is just a girl. A tiny, pasty little vai. This woman, meanwhile, is a trained assassin.

... No confrontation would be ideal. She puts away her gear.

And not a moment too soon.

"Hello? Is someone there?" The woman calls. Link is suddenly glad she's got on her new dress rather than any Gerudo clothes. She peeks out from behind the pillar.

"H-Hello?" She calls, voice cracking a bit from forcing her throat to work.

The Yiga spy's eyes go wide. "A little girl?" She says incredulously. "How did you get out here? Are you alright? Where are your parents?"

She sounds concerned. It's probably an act.

... That gives Link an idea. It could be an act-- But Link can put on an act, too. It means she'll have to step out of her comfort zone and talk fast, though.

_Don't use any Gerudo words. You're a little Hylian, talk like it_. "I'm lost." She whimpers as pitifully as she can.

"Lost?"

Link thinks quickly. Camping would explain her gear, like her bag of food and canteen. "Mama and I were exploring! We were looking for a place to camp, but then..." How does one end up in the desert.... "I got lost and it was getting dark, then I tripped and fell off a cliff cause it was dark!"

The Yiga woman seems concerned. "A cliff?"

Link nods. "It hurt, but I think I'm okay. It wasn't a big cliff..."

"So how'd you get this far in the desert?"

"I went lookin' for a way back out and got lost again." Link says as sheepishly as she can muster, rubbing the back of her neck. "And there were monsters! Skeleton monsters!" Link's seen Stal monsters before. Utterly terrifying, those. The perfect excuse. "I tried to fight them, but they just kept getting back up so I ran and ran away and then I found this place and I was so, so sleepy that I just fell right asleep right here."

The woman seems to deliberate for a moment. "The desert stable is only a few hour's walk from here." She says finally. "I'll escort you. There, alright?"

... Crud. She can't leave the desert! Especially with a Yiga spy! But she can't drop the charade now. It's completely unsafe. She maybe would have been able to get a few swings in with the element of surprise but she doubts she would fare well if she tried to pull her sword now. She nods and allows the woman to take her hand, trying not to look at the sickle hidden almost too perfectly under the woman's bag.

"That's a nice sword and shield you've got there." The Yiga woman says conversationally as they walk. Link smiles tensely, hoping it looks more sweet than it feels.

Thankfully, while good quality, sword and shield are both Zora made. Her bow is Rito made, as well-- a Swallow bow, known for light weight and quick draw. Nothing obviously Gerudo. "Mama likes to trade..." Her throat is starting to hurt. She doesn't like to talk so much.

The Yiga woman nods as Link takes a drink of her water. "You're probably sore and parched, little one. Just stick with me, alright? I'll get you out of the desert. It's not safe for a little Hylian like you."

Link nods and they begin their trek. Ugh, by the time they get to the stable it'll be nearly night... She won't have time to come back and find a settlement!

... Mama is so going to kill her.

1234567890

"Thank you for coming." Mipha says softly, eyes on the large bird with indigo feathers. They're at the top of the reservoir, above the waterfall. Mipha sits with her feet in the water-- it beats at her legs as it rushes into the pool at the base. Revali is seated behind the low retaining wall, trying not to get his feathers wet.

"I have to say," The Rito says smoothly, "Your letter made my pinions twitch. The Princess of the Zora, wanting to meet with the ambassador for the Rito in complete secrecy? Why, that's enough to ruffle anyone's feathers."

"I wished to meet with you, without my father knowing... About the Hylians."

".... Ah. That." Revali's beak presses together tightly.

"Yes..." Mipha places a hand on the swaddle wrapped around her chest and neck. "I believe the Hylians mean to wage war."

"As do I." the ambassador agrees. Mipha nearly melts in relief. It's not just her. She's not overreacting.

"What will the Zora do?" The Rito looks at her, askance.

"Father will honor the alliance. The Zora will take up arms beside them." Mipha says distastefully.

"You are not pleased with this?"

"It places my people in a very hard spot."

"Last I was here, the tension was thick as cloud cover."

Mipha nods. "Plenty of my people are willing to fight alongside our longtime allies. Some are not entirely pleased with the idea of fighting someone else's war." She rocks Sidhon gently. "But I believe at least a few understand what will happen after Hylia has defeated their enemies."

"They'll look closer to home."

"We all know nobody can conquer Death Mountain-- the Gorons are the only ones who can handle those temperatures, it would be impossible to meaningfully occupy a place you need fireproof elixir or impractical stone armor to even stand upon without catching alight. If Hylia defeats the Gerudo and the Rito, the only unconqured parts of Hyrule... Will be Zora's Domain and Death Mountain." Mipha finishes her prediction with a quiet, miserable air. "I believe they may break the alliance and attack us."

Revali moves to sit beside her on the retaining wall. "Do you have any idea what to do?"

Mipha stares into the distance, rocking her baby brother. "I... Have a bit of a plan, but... I'm not sure if it will work."

"You'll never fly if you don't hop out of the nest." The Rito shrugs. "Spill."


	8. Lost

Link has never been out of the desert before, so she doesn't know what to expect. The road she's taken onto has a slight shelf separating it from the sands, and it smells odd and musky to Link's nose. It doesn't move beneath her feet like sand but it isn't hard like stone. It's more.... packed together. Sort of springy. 

The Yiga woman is still holding her hand like she's afraid Link will vanish like a toddler if she so much as loosens her grip. A fair concern, she supposes, since Link did say she got lost twice in one night.

It does mean that Link has had no chance to slip away.

The air here is different from the desert. It's... refreshing, rather than scorching hot and dry. She doesn't know what to make of it. 

The path to the stable isn't actually all that long, and the Yiga woman points it out when they draw near. It's a strange round building with a giant metal horse head atop it. There are plenty of people milling about. 

The assassin takes her right up to the person manning the counter.

"This little miss was lost in the desert. She apparently got separated from her mother and fell down a cliff into the desert."

The shop keep gasps. 

"Here's some Rupees. Can you put her up for a while and maybe send someone out to glance around for her?"

"Of course! We'll try and get the little lady home as soon as possible. Thank you."

"Be good now, little one, and don't come back to the desert. The Gerudo are nasty savages who won't hesitate to take you prisoner."

"Thank you." Link lies, the words tasting bad on her tongue. Like sand. 

With that, the assassin smiles at her, turns, and walks away.

Link sighs. 

"So what's your name, little lady?"

Link draws it out in the air with her finger. L-I-N-K. The stable man frowns. 

"I didn't catch that."

She does it more slowly. 

"Link?"

She nods. 

"Alright, Link, let's get you in a bed. We'll send a stable hand out to look for your mother at morning light, it's getting pretty late."

A mother that doesn't actually exist. Link almost feels bad for the poor stablehand that's gonna have extra work.

It's dark out now-- too late to go back through the desert to find a settlement. Nights are dangerous, filled with skeleton monsters and nefarious characters. Plus it's really cold in the desert at night.... for some reason.

She'll have to stay the night here in the graciously offered bed.

The innkeeper allows her to pick her bed and one of the guests offers one of her daughter's nightgowns. The other girl chatters happily at her while she dresses behind a screen, and Link makes noncommittal noises.

These Hylians are... nice. Surprisingly kind, and polite. Just... just people, like Mama said. Not brutal savages.

At least, not to what they think is one of their own kind. She's too wary to trust it. As soon as she can, Link will be sneaking off to the desert and running for it.

She sighs and tucks herself into bed, flopping onto the pillow. It's a nice bed, at least.

Soon, though, she's far too hot. She's used to it being cold at night, so she'd bundled up tight in the blanket only to overheat. But she feels too exposed when she takes the blanket off, so she just has to suffer through it, tossing and turning for a while in her worry and her heat.

The sun is blindingly bright. It's shining through the trees, trees like she hasn't ever seen before. The foliage is thick, and deep. The earthy smell assaults her nose like nothing else before.

There are giggles and whispers just out of sight.

She's barefoot. Leaves and twigs crunch under her feet. She's never experienced anything like it.

She's walking forward, feet touching the dirt and grass, real grass. It's almost knee high. Something's... calling to her, for lack of a better explanation. She can almost hear it, whispering on the wind. The further she goes, the more clearly it seems to call.

_ ...om...i...e... _

She can hear the giggles in the trees, but when she looks there is nobody. She keeps going, following the voice that isn't quite a voice.

_ ...Com..fi...me... _

There are torches lit every ten feet or so, and she follows them on a winding path that does not seem to be the most efficient way to get where she's going. She notices that each fire blows in the same direction despite the twisting path-- the wind is always at her back. How strange.

_ ...Come... _

There are little pink balls of light dancing in the corners of her eyes. When she looks, there's nothing there.

The trees are huge and twisting and terrifying. She can almost see faces with jagged smiles.

_ .... Come find me... _

Eventually the fog starts clearing away. The path of torches stops, and she continues straight. The giggling and whispering of the trees grows louder, yet she still sees nobody.

Come find me...

She walks into a giant log, and around a corner.

Then she sits straight up in bed, gasping. A cold sheen of sweat covers her skin, and there are goosebumps up and down her arms. She looks around, frantically. Still at the stable…

_ COME FIND ME! _

The shout echoes through her head, a sharp pain forming right behind her eyes, making her yelp and nearly fall out of bed.

Someone mutters a cuss word in their sleep. The innkeeper-- someone different from the person who put her to bed, looks over in concern.

The words are rattling around and around in her skull, the unknown voice begging to be found.

She climbs down from the bed and walks to the man. "I- I need a map." She says slowly. The voice seems to quiet a bit at this declaration, the pain receding ever so slightly.

Still, she can hear it.  _ Comefindmecomefindmecomefindme _ ...

Her head is pounding. She takes the map from the man and looks at it. A forest. The dream with the screaming voice had been in a forest.

... there are a lot of forests on this map. She bite her lips. The closest forest is the Faron Woods, according to her map.

She shouldn't do this. Her mother will be tearing the desert apart as soon as she realizes Link is missing. She has no supplies. She's never been out of the desert and she only has one change of clothes. She should just go home and forget about the strange dream and the voice still rattling around her skull.

The pain spikes. The voice gets louder again. She clutches at her head.

"Are you alright, Miss?"

She nods, eyes watering from the pain. Like driving a sword right through her head.

She needs to go. She needs to make the voice in her head stop screaming and she needs to know who's so desperate for her to come find them. She needs to know about the strange forest with the wind always at her back and the trees whispering like gossipmongers.

She shouldn't go, but she needs to.

Okay, so she'll need supplies, first and foremost. She has 45 Rupees, some monster parts, two durians, a hydromelon, and a couple of volt fruit she'd grabbed directly off the cactus. As well as another dress, a sword, a shield, and a bow with about thirty arrows and five bomb arrows. That's not a bad survival pack, but she could possibly get more money for the monster parts if there were a merchant nearby.

She holds up a green Rupee and points to it, then mimes taking something and handing over the Rupee. The man looks at her strangely. She repeats the gesture. Then she points to her lips, and then herself in general. Tell me!

"Are you trying to tell me something, little lady?"

Link nods and makes the gesture again.

"... Why don't you just tell me?"

Getting frustrated, Link stomps her foot.

"I think she's looking for a merchant." Someone else says from his seat on his bed. She nods.

"Oh, there's one that comes by in the mornings to sell to travelers. He also buys, of course." The man says. Link nods again. Then she points at the map and offers a blue Rupee for it.

"Keep it, kiddo. They're free." She smiles at the frustrating man. "Now head back to bed, alright? We'll send someone out to look for your mother tomorrow."

Link nods, even though her mother won't be found because she's in the desert, and heads back to her bed. She'll have to slip away in the morning. Shouldn't be too hard.


	9. New Paths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link begins her trek. Mipha puts her plan into motion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIVE! Okay so I'm actually really really sorry I've been gone so long. See, I was hospitalized after a nervous breakdown in September, and then I just.... Couldn't bring myself to write for a long time after that. But I'm back!

Early, dawn arrives far too soon for the little Gerudo girl. She still feels tired. It takes her a long moment to realize where she is. Not at home. Not in one of the settlements. Not even in the desert.    
  
Oh she’s so going to hear it from Mama.    
  
_ I am waiting for you. Come find me, find me, find me. _ _   
_ _   
_ Right. She needs to find the thing calling to her to shut up the voice in her head. A forest, that’s where she needs to go. Okay.    
  
First thing’s first, find a merchant. Get some supplies. Not so hard. She Climbs out of bed and walks around the stable, eyeing up things that are grabable. An axe quickly makes its way into her belongings, followed by a handful of apples. An odd three pronged fork of sort joins the axe. 

Then she sees a man with a giant backpack shaped like a beetle approaching. Large pack, possibly a merchant.   
  
Sure enough, he introduces himself as ‘Beedle’, a traveling merchant, and happily takes her monster parts. She buys all his stock of arrows and some food, nods her thanks, and heads away. No one really notices her slip out of the stable, thankfully-- Link wouldn’t like to have to come up with an excuse for why she, the supposed helpless little girl who lost her mom, was fleeing the stable without help.    
  
She runs down the path as fast as she can until it turns and the stable is out of sight. She stands there panting for a moment to regain her breath before grabbing the cliffside and beginning to scale it. It’s not at all like climbing the buildings at home, and yet it’s also just the same. Find those small divots and cracks and go at them as fast as she can manage.   
  
Like climbing the palace at home, she barely manages to pull herself up onto the clifftop. She flops over and wheezes, shaking out her hands and arms. Whew. Quite a workout. But no one will expect her to be strong enough to climb up here. Which means she’s safe to start traveling… She checks her map. East. Through the Faron Grasslands and past Lake Hylia.    
  
It’s a long way, but she can do it. She regularly treks across the desert on foot. Surely she can handle a trip like this.   
  
_ I am waiting for you. _

1234567890

It was a very careful balancing act, like walking upon the edge of a cliff in a lighting storm. To find those who would follow her, rather than her father, without anyone becoming suspicious of her motives. 

A fine art. Delicate. But she is a princess, and her people adore her. The whispers skip across the water like thrown stones, the people listening to the song of the sea and the rain. One who doesn’t wish for her husband to go off to war, one who doesn’t agree that the alliance with Hyrule is sound. Those who are loyal to Mipha more than her father, those who are ready for a new era of new allies.

The whispers return to Mipha slowly, passed along the wind and the water. We are here. We are waiting for you to call upon us.   
  
Mipha sits in her bedroom, rocking Sidhon in his cradle with her foot. He makes a sweet gurgling sound.   
  
Does Mipha dare? Her path is a dangerous one. It places herself, her people, and her father in danger. 

_ You’ll never fly if you don’t hop out of the nest. _ Revali had said, as if it were the simplest thing. 

Perhaps a more apt metaphor would be that you’ll never climb a waterfall should you never enter the water at all.   
  
Still what she is thinking of… it is treason, by all definitions of the word. It is destabilizing the Zora, it is usurping the King, it is refusing aid and possibly even actively sabotaging allied forces.    
  
Treason.   
  
She looks back down at Sidhon. A prince in this world of turmoil, the shining beacon of light upon the water that she will rally herself and her people around.   
  
It is for him that she will commit a heinous crime, and sabotage her father’s plans to work with the Hylians.   
  
Mipha’s resolve hardens and she nods to herself. Time is short, and she still has another person to persuade into allying with her.    
  
… though that will be… quite difficult, as she dwells in the desert, and Zora aren’t exactly… made for that terrain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Next chapter will come as soon as I pick up the game and go through the route Link is about to take so it's accurate.


	10. Secrets and Lies

Link has never navigated cliffs before. At least, not like these. She’s climbed the walls of the settlements and the crags of the ruins, but not the sheer, smooth and flat plains of a cliff like this.    
  
The view is breathtaking, though. She can see out into the desert, a seemingly endless plain of sand. Dust hangs in the air where sandstorms roam the land. In the distance, she can see the faded outlines of settlements and ruins, deceptively close looking but so far away as to almost be in another world.    
  
Now’s her chance to go home. To enter one of the settlements and claim to have gotten held up fighting stal monsters, or trapped by a molduga. Her chance to not worry Mama and make it clear that she was fine.   
  


Her head feels like it’s going to split down the middle as the voice in her mind screams its plea once more.   
  
No. No, she can’t go home. She has to do this.   
  
She can feel it in her bones, in her blood, in her heart. The Goddesses themselves can only be to blame-- after all, whom else would be able to speak to her through her own thoughts?   
  
… Or she’s going nuts. Either way… onwards.   
  
Mama will simply have to worry.   
  
1234567890   
  
“It’s only been a day since we last met here, Princess Mipha.” Revali says politely. Mipha sighs, staring out over the edge of the dam. “I may be an excellent flier, if I do say so myself, but covering the entire continent in less than a day is taxing even to me.”   
  
“I’m terribly sorry.” Mipha sighs again.   
  
“It’s no issue. I was only trying to ruffle your feathers-- I stayed at the Inn of a nearby stable last night, planning to set off this morning. So, onto the discussion.”   
  
“Yes, the discussion.” Mipha scoops up her brother. “I have made my choice.”   
  
“Oh?”   
  
“I choose Sidon, over my father. I choose to break the alliance. Even if it means betraying my father, I am prepared for that. I love him dearly, but I will not stand idly by as he puts our kingdom at risk.”   
  
“I see. So will you work in the open or the shadows?” The Rito asks, expression difficult to read. Mipha sighs a third time.   
  
“It is best… If I work without those who would follow my father over me realizing what has been done until I am ready. But I do need to make one ploy that is out in the open and obvious… So the reasoning must be deceptive and innocent.”   
  
“... I don’t follow, Princess.”   
  
“I require a favor of you, Revali.”   
  
1234567890   
  
“The Zora army will be joining our ranks despite the infighting.”   
  
Zelda makes a displeased face. Her father cannot see her, of course. The princess has spent much of her time exploring every inch of this castle and thus has discovered many secrets, including this small crawl space and the secret, cramped tunnel leading to it from behind a sliding panel in the armory. The crawlspace was positioned directly below the meeting room her father was using to hold his War Council, with a small vent in the roof, placed innocuously in the corner of the floor of the room. The whole ordeal was completely impossible for anyone much larger than her to get through-- Even she, petite as she was, had had to crawl through a long, filthy tunnel with an upward slope and several tricky turns she had had to wiggle through carefully lest she get stuck. All that to end up in a room barely large enough for her to sit in and stare up at the meager amount of light flowing in through the vent.   
  
But it’s the perfect place to eavesdrop.   
  
“And the Rito?” Her father asks.   
  
“Ambassador Revali has not returned since his last visit, your Majesty.”   
  
Probably because Father had  _ drawn a sword on him _ in this very room. Zelda bites her tongue to resist the urge to scoff. Her mother would have scoffed. It was a scoff-worthy thing to do, to pull a weapon on an ambassador for daring to ask if you were preparing to launch an assault on someone. Which Father  _ was _ . Zelda does not know much of the Gerudo, but for the fact that they are all women and they live in the desert. Father calls them savages, bottom feeders, all manner of nasty things that Zelda is not allowed to say lest she get a two-hour lecture on acting like a Princess, properly.    
  
Preposterous.   
  
“The sand-whores won’t put up much of a fight once we storm the desert.” Father says. “There’s not enough of them to resist our army-- We have them beat on sheer numbers alone.” He chuckles at that, chuckles at the idea of an entire society of people being pressed under Hylia’s heel.   
  
Horrible. It’s an awful thing to think of, let alone to laugh about so smugly. Zelda cannot imagine-- the Gerudo have done nothing to her people. She knows this because Father would have long since brought it up in his hatred-fueled rants. And the Gerudo live in the  _ wastelands _ . There’s nothing in the desert that her people need, or even really want. Especially since if they wanted something only obtainable in the wastelands,  _ trade _ is the better option, hands down. Hylia doesn’t need the land or its questionable bounties, Hylia doesn’t need to invade.   
  
And yet her Father seems to think otherwise.   
  
Zelda blows out a silent breath of air through her teeth and continues to listen.   
  
1234567890   
  
The throne room of the town at the heart of Zora’s Domain is lovely, polished to a shine with seashell and Luminous stone seeming to be the main building blocks of the entire open-floor town. Revali lands lightly on the steps in front of it, then walks the rest of the way up. He bows to the Zora King, Mipha’s father, and is bidden to state his business.   
  
He doesn’t need to worry about his true intentions showing on his face. Revali is as excellent a liar as he is at everything else he’s put his beak to. “Your Majesty, my Elder has asked me if I may trouble you to borrow your daughter for a time. He wishes to speak to Lady Mipha in person over a matter he did not give me details on. He simply requested I retrieve her and escort her to the Hebra mountains.”   
  
As he speaks, Mipha slips into the room. “Ah, yes…” She says softly, and her father’s eyes turn to her. “I was expecting him. Father, I need to go speak to the Elder of the Rito--”   
  
“Why?” King Dorephan asks calmly, staring her down.   
  
“He wishes me to bring my brother to Hebra so he can offer Sidhon his blessings in person, but cannot make the trip himself. I have agreed to journey there instead.”   
  
“... I see. Be careful, my daughter-- Hebra is far.”   
  
“I’ll be fine, father.” Mipha smiles sweetly, but those teeth are sharper than Dorephan seems to see.    
  
“Don’t worry, your majesty. No harm will come to Lady Mipha in my care.” Revaili says assuredly. “And of course, no harm will come to Prince Sidhon as long as Lady Mipha draws breath.”   
  
Mipha nods, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. No harm, not even indirectly or accidentally caused by her father. “I will set out at dawn tomorrow, Father.”   
  
“Of course, dear. Do give my greetings to the Rito Elder.”   
  
Mipha nods and leaves back towards her room.   
  
“I’m afraid I must go myself-- I need to plot out the route we will be traveling before we set off officially. Your Majesty.” He nods in acknowledgment. “I will be here in the morning, tomorrow. You can count on me.”   
  
With that, Revali takes wing. He has at best twelve hours to make a round trip from here to the mountains and give his wife her instructions, then he actually does need to find a route to take with Mipha to their  _ actual _ destination, and then be back by dawn. He’s probably not going to get a chance to sleep until after they’re well away from Zora’s Domain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I have Link's route mapped out anddddd it's a doozy. She's in for a ride.


	11. Electricity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay in the new chapter! Quarantine has honestly turned my brain to mush and when I actually HAVE the energy I've been roped into other projects. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long. Everyone stay safe out there! (I have no idea what's wrong with the formatting, I'm sorry)

#  The first obstacle Link encounters is fairly mundane. After jogging a ways east on the clifftop she comes to a sheer wall composed of…. For lack of a better word, _blocks_, of cliffs. Almost like giant stairs. Going around isn’t an option, the wall is more of a half-moon than anything and at either end the cliff just… drops. No more cliff. Link peers down over the edge of one side and actually squeaks, stumbling backwards. Nope. Nope. There is _no way_ she’d be making it down that side. She can’t even see the bottom!  
  
The other side, however, yields the same results. She sighs and eyes the stair-cliffs again. Each step is nearly triple her height, but that’s at least an amount that she can climb.  
  
It takes foreeeeever to get to the top of the stairs and thus the next level of the cliff. The sun is high in the sky by the time she makes it up there, beating down unforgivingly. She decides to take a break and starts a fire, tossing in a pair of Volt Fruits and sitting back to watch them catch on fire. She impales them on her sword one after the other and happily chows down on the roasted fruit. By the goddesses, she loves these things.   
  
With lunch taken care of, Link heads over a small hill and nearly trips over some yellow mushrooms. Oh! Zapshrooms! Katia sells all sorts of mushrooms. Link quickly picks them all and moves on, only to then hear some sort of…. Yelling? She doesn’t recognize the noise.  
  
An animal rushes at her out of the corner of her eye and she dives out of the way. There are three of them, four-legged things with fluffy tails and long snouts with lips pulled back to reveal sharp teeth as they growl. She narrows her eyes, pushing herself back to her feet. What are these? Monsters? Animals? They make that high-pitched noise, like the howl of the wind over the desert, and circle her.  
  
She draws her Swallow Bow and fires at them as fast as she can. They yelp and whimper before collapsing, dead. Animals, their bodies don’t dissolve so they’re animals.  
  
She frowns, then sighs. Leaving the animals’ corpses here would not only be disrespectful but also wasteful, and if her time in the desert has taught her anything it is to never, ever be wasteful. One by one, she drags the three corpses back to her fire. She’ll clean them and make camp here, tonight. It’s not too terribly far from where she started, but she gets the feeling this journey will not be a short one, anyway.  
  
1234567890  
  
The sun rises with little fanfare above Gerudo Town, and Urbosa cannot deny it any longer. Her flower, her Link, is missing. It has been days. She sent guards to all of the settlements, guards to comb the desert. Not a peep. Not a sighting.  
  
Link is simply gone.  
  
And what’s worse is that Urbosa can’t leave the palace. Her baby is due any moment, and she cannot risk Savannah being born in the harshness of the desert. She must stay here where the infirmary is.

#  Maddening. It's maddening.

#  Pearla has sent warriors across the sands, all the way out to the farthest corners, and there is simply no sign of her. No sign of Link.

#  Urbosa slams a hand on the table in front of her, frustrated tears welling up in her eyes. What happened? Did the Yoga Clan steal her daughter? Did a monster get her? Will the guards only find a corpse in the sand, hauntingly similar to the prone, broken form of Annabelle lying on the sand?

#  She doesn't know, and that, perhaps, is the worst thought of all.

#  1234567890

#  Link sets back off shortly after dawn, heading vertical once more. These cliffs aren't as… clean and stairlike as the ones she climbed the day before, but that actually makes them easier to climb. She's relieved for that, certain that she's going to be dealing with a lot of climbing and so any relief is welcome relief. 

#  It's still slow going. Her rough and calloused hands feel like they're burning on the scorching stone, and the sun is ridiculously bright above her head. It's almost hotter here than in the desert. The air feels… wet, almost, and heavy. Strange and forgien to a Vai used to wind drier than the sand beneath. But eventually she finds herself on a long, flat , sweeping and slanted plain bordered by a sheer cliff along one edge. There are large, glimmering black rocks studded along the wall, and zapshrooms all over the place.

#  Excited, Link heads deeper into the plain, reaching down to grab a mushroom.

#  There's a noise behind her. An odd, gooey sort of noise. 

#  She turns slowly, still half bent, to see… orbs of goo with eyes, yellow and crackling with electricity, rising out of the ground behind her. She straightens and looks around.

#  … the whole field is full of them.

#  Link says something Mama would have lectured her for for an hour and pulls out the fork-thing she got at the stable, the large tool long enough to be used as a spear.

#  She doesn't want to get too close to that zappity zap.

#  Link holds the spear like Captain Pearla taught her. She's not the most experienced with spears-- she prefers short swords with which she can use shields over two handed weapons. These goo blobs don't _seem_ all that threatening, though, so she's not as worried about skill. Link lunges foward, stabbing out with the three prongs, and pops one of the blobs.

#  Her choice to stay as far back as possible quickly proves to be a good one as the thing explodes in a shower of electrical goop, barely missing her, before dissolving.

#  … perfect. Now she just needs to do that… Link looks around. Thirty or so more times.

#  … She might be here a while.


End file.
